When Friendships Falter and Crumble
by callofduty1944
Summary: The gang has been invited to a competition in Kentucky. The gang is psyched and preparing hard. When they arrive, something happens that may change the relationships of the group forever. Can they fix it before the competition ends? SarahxOC
1. Chapter 1

Tell me what you think this is my first one of this category

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**Old Kentucky Love**

Chapter 1: We're Heading Out

The sun was shining brightly on the ranch of Horseland Stables. Everyone was out riding their horses hunt seat, jumping gracefully over each post. One rider was in the arena aside to that one handling his horse in saddle seat style.

That was Josh Kroger. Young man of 17 years, riding for over seven years at Horseland. His horse is a saddle bred mare named Dotty. She had a coat of brown fur with hints of red, a matching mane and tail with white streaks in them. She has white socks on both of her front feet. Her bridle bore a black circle, which Josh referred to as "The Black Pearl."

Josh was a different rider compared to the others there at Horseland. They were known for hunt seat jumping, but he was an exception. He was the only one to do standard trots, canters, slow gates(fast trot) and racks(even faster than the slow gate). He was more to showing his horse more than making her jump.

His lesson had just finished up and he was done for the day. He took Dotty back to the barn, washed her off, and gave her a treat for doing a good job today. One by one the others started to come inside and repeat what he had just done.

Josh was in Dotty's stall, brushing her off and pettin' her. Sarah and Molly started to bring their horses, Scarlett and Calypso, up the walk and into their stalls.

Josh finished brushing Dotty and threw his brush in his tack box and put it away in the tack room. He and Bailey walked back to their stalls and chatted a while with the girls.

Bailey's cousin, Will, came running to where the others were. The others turned around and saw him panting and holding what seemed to be a letter in his hand.

"Hey cus. Whatcha' got there?" Bailey asked.

"Here. Take a look. It's from Josh's and Sarah's hometown. It must be serious, cause it's got the governor's seal on it," he answered in reply.

Bailey quickly scanned over it. The others started to crowd around him to what the fuss was about. Bailey yelled out a shout of cheer.

"YOW! Where's the fire?" Josh said.

"Don't you see? This is an invitation. The Kentucky Horse Park is having their first hunt and saddle seat competition. We have been personally invited from the governor himself," he said in reply.

"Wow," Molly said," I guess we did get some attention, didn't we?"

"Si, chica," Alma said," we got some big attention.

"I can't believe that we're going back home for a while," Sarah said.

"Yeah. I practically lived at the horse park when I was little. I showed there just about every show I could go to. Heck even Sarah did, too," Josh said. Sarah blushed a little.

Kentucky was the home state of Josh and Sarah. The two lived there when they were little. When they moved to Tennessee(sue for not knowing right location), they parted when she gained recognition. However, when she came back, it was like old times. But the two had grown and were now 16 and 17. The two started grow closer when they came to Horseland, eventually having a crush on each other, but both never admitted to the other, yet.

"Sounds like we're going to the home of the horses," Chloe said.

"_Capital_ of the horses is more like it. That state starts out the races every year; even Queen Elizabeth II went to one of them recently," her twin Zoey added.

"Figures you two would be the only ones to be interested in horse racing because royalty went," Sarah said shaking her head.

"What? Wouldn't you?"

"Nope," Josh said cutting in.

"It was our hometown, and that's the reason we're excited to go back," Sarah said.

Shep, Teeny, Angora, and the horses were all listening in on this as it happened. Teeny seemed very excited as usual.

"_Oh, boy. It looks like we're going on a trip," she said excitedly. _

"_Yes, indeed. It seems that way, now doesn't it?" he said. _

"_Oh, boy. I can't I'm going to my home," Dotty said excitedly._

"_Yes, Kentucky sounds like a fine place for riding horses," Aztec said._

"_Sure does," Calypso whinnied in agreement," I'm just excited thinking about it."_

"_I just can't wait. I hope there's a lot of trails to ride on for trail rides," Pepper said._

"Well. When does it say the trip?" Sarah asked.

"Let's see," Will said scanning the letter. "It seems the competition is in two weeks."

"That's not too far away," Alma said.

"Then we better practice every bit that we can without running down our horses. Everyone meet at 11:00 and practice everything that we covered. Got it?" Will said.

They all nodded in agreement." All right then. Meet you all here tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

Old Kentucky Love

Chapter 2: Arrival and Preparations

The first week was spent every waking minute in preparation for the competition. Whether it was cleaning tack or practicing on their horses, they were constantly busy.

Josh and Sarah were also training. Sarah had done saddle seat before, but she was wanting to show three-gaited, while Josh shows five-gaited. So Josh was willing to give her refresher lessons.

Will and Bailey, being cousins, decided to start on the travel arrangements. They would stay at one of the hotels nearest to it. But they were having a hard time finding a place to stay for the first night since they would be there a day before the signups could be turned in.

The two came in looking a little puzzled as to how to fix the problem. Alma noticed this as she was coming out of the tack room.

"Will, Bailey, mi amigos, what's the matter? You don't look so thrilled," she said noticing the looks on their faces.

"We've got a problem on our hands about the first night in Kentucky," Bailey said.

"And we're having a hard time finding a place near there that has rooms for us and stalls for the horses. This is tricky," Will said.

The three walked to the edge of the arena and leaned on the fence. Molly was also there, watching Josh giving Sarah her lesson before the competition. She was doing pretty good for the most part. She was on one of the three gaited horses, named Shamie, in a canter and had her under good control.

"Alright, now bring her down to a walk. Good job. Three more lessons and you'll be back in the saddle," he said. Sarah came into the center and patted Shamie. She dismounted, but got her foot got in a stirrup. Josh managed to catch her before hitting the ground.

Unfortunately, he caught her in a position that made the scene very interesting. He had her in his arms, and their noses were inches apart. Everyone there was looking in shock. Some had to refrain from laughing.

He immediately stood on her feet. They were both blushing madly. She walked rather quickly back to the stall. He also walked away quickly. He noticed the others trying their hardest not to laugh. He started blushing so red a tomato would be put to shame.

"Geez, Josh. Looks like someone has a little something for Sarah," Will joked. He noticed he was blushing madly after saying that. He snickered for he's never seen anyone get that worked up over a girl.

"I do not. Besides I couldn't let her fall. She's my best friend," he said.

"Or you were just trying to be a hero for a damsel in distress," Molly teased.

"Ok. Never mind. I'm out of here," he said storming off. They all turned around as he stormed off.

Bailey let a low whistle. "Never thought I'd see that side of him. But we still got the problem of where to stay for the first night. Maybe he has an idea. He practically knows that neighborhood like the back of his hand."

Josh was fuming at what the others were saying about him and Sarah, although it was true. He had a massive crush on her, but he would never admit to her or anyone else for that matter. He just felt that, if he told her, but she didn't feel the same way, it may their friendship a little…awkward.

Sarah was in Shamie's stall, brushing the mare as the past events went racing through her mind. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Her best friend caught her and their noses were inches from each other. This whole event had her heart racing. She was practically shaking that she couldn't keep a good grip on the curry comb. Lately, she has been feeling more…attracted to Josh; more so than usual. She's developed a massive crush on her best friend and she couldn't take it anymore. Her heart was screaming to tell him before it's too late. Her brain was yelling to get a grip and tell him. It was too much that she had spent nights tossing and turning thinking about it.

Will and the others came towards Dotty's stall. They stopped just a few feet short of where her stall was to hear whispers. They tried to listen in on the conversation.

"Dotty, my old friend. Let's face it: this crush on Sarah is going to be the death of me if I don't tell her on time. I'm losing it officially. This is it. I've got to tell her when we get there. That's enough time to think of what to say," he said. The mare whinnied in understanding.

He walked out of the stall and shut the door. Josh heard someone clear their throat out. He spun around and saw the group standing there with smiles on their faces. He was blushing heavily, figuring out they had just found out his secret.

"Well, I was right: you're crazy over her," Will said with a satisfied grin on his face, draping an arm over his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. Just please… don't tell her. That's a secret I wanna keep 'til we get there," he said pushing Will's arm off of him.

"Don't worry Josh, mi amigo. We won't tell a soul," Alma said smiling a reassuring smile.

"Thank you guys. I knew I could count on you. Now what seems to be the problem?" he asked.

"Well, we're having a hard time finding a place to stay on our first night in Kentucky. We want a good place to stay, but we also need a place for the horses to stay as well," Bailey said.

"Oh that's easy. We can stay at my uncle's house. He's got a couple horses on his ranch, one for him and the other for my aunt. But he also has more stalls, enough for all of our horses. So I can call him before leaving and see if we can stay the night. Don't worry about a thing; just keep my crush on Sarah between me and you guys," Josh said.

"No problem," Molly said.

The second week came almost instantly. They had three more days and they were leaving in two days. It was Monday, and they were leaving Wednesday. Competition started on Friday.

Josh was in the office calling his uncle. "Yeah… ok… all right then. We'll see you later then… ok… bye." He pushed the end button and put the phone back on the charger. He wrote down the address. The door opened and there was Sarah. He put the address in his pocket.

"What was that?" she asked.

"That was the address that my uncle is currently living in. I wrote down his address because… well you know me."

"Yep: always the forgetful one," she said giggling. The two walked out and finished their last lesson before they were leaving.

The next day, around 6 P.M., they were getting the horses in the trailer and the saddles and bridles in the tack area. Will, Bailey, and Sarah were getting Calypso, Pepper, and Chili in the back. Alma and Molly were busy putting the last of the tack in the tack area of the trailer. Josh was busy hooking the trailer up to his truck.

"All right. I think that does it. Are we ready?" Will said. Sarah shut the trailer door, Alma closed the tack door, Josh kicked the hitch. "We're ready. Let's roll!" Josh hopped in his truck, followed by Sarah, Alma, and Molly. Bailey, Chloe, Zoey and Will hopped in Will's car and the two pulled out of the drive and on to Kentucky.

The trip itself was quite a while. 4 hours into the trip, the girls finally started to calm down. Sarah fell asleep, her blonde hair leaning against the headrest. Her chest rose up and down with each steady breath. Josh had to admit that she looked cute when she was sleeping. He shook his head, trying to get the thought out of his head and stay focused on the road.

His cell phone rang "Danger Zone," jolting everyone in the car awake, even him. Sarah sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," mumbled Alma," who's calling at this hour?" Josh took a look at the caller ID: it was Will.

"Yeah, man. What's up?… uh huh…uh.. Let me check. Hey girls you hungry?"

"Yeah, why?" Sarah asked.

"Will was wanting to stop somewhere and grab a bite before going further."

"Sure. Why not," Molly nodded.

"All right we're game… yep… ok we'll se you there…bye." He pulled off the next exit and pulled into the parking lot of the Arby's(so gooood) there.

Will and the others pulled right in with them. They all hopped out of the car. Josh stayed behind. "Go ahead. Just get a couple of regular sandwiches." The others nodded and walked to the restaurant.

Josh opened the smaller door leading inside the trailer. The horses started neighing, almost as if they were really happy. Shep and Teeny were also excited to see him.

"_Finally we get more to eat," Teeny said._

"_Yeah, I'm starving here," Scarlett said._ Josh took the hay bails and put three pieces in each food bag hanging in front of the horses. He also put more food for Teeny and Shep in their bowls. He turned around to make sure there was no one there. He pulled from his pocket butter mints. He sneaked each horse one, feeding it from the palm of his hand, petting each one as they devoured the minty treat. He got back outside the trailer.

"_I wonder if we're there yet," Aztec said._

"_I would imagine we are. I remember hearing my rider saying that it would take five hours," Dotty said._

"_Yes, he did say that," Shep added," and it's been almost four hours anyway."_

"_Well, let's eat!" Chili said as they all started digging in at once. _

They others came back from the restaurant with food in hand. They noticed Josh getting out of the trailer.

"Hm. He must have fed the critters back there," Will said. Sarah didn't hear a word he said. She was too busy getting lost in Josh's eyes.

She was brought out of it by car engines revving up. Josh honked his horn." Come on girlie. You don't move, you're left behind." She ran back to the car and passed around their food and drinks before pulling out.

Josh took a sip of his drink and was immediately awake." Whew, nothing better than caffeine to get you awake and alert," he joked. Sarah started giggling. He looked over and flashed a loving smile at her. She immediately blushed and looked away to keep him from seeing. She unwrapped one sandwich and started to nibble on it a little.

Finally, they arrived at his uncle's ranch. It was a nice little place. They all hopped out of the car as Josh's uncle met them at the front door. "And just who are all these kids?" his uncle asked.

"Oh, these are my friends. Sarah, Alma, Will, his cousin Bailey, Molly, and the twins are Chloe and Zoey," he said introducing them one by one.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all. I've got the guest room set up for you all, but we are a couple of beds short, so two of you can stay in the pull out beds in the living room."

"I'll take one of them," Josh said. No one really spoke up until "I'll take the other one." Everyone was stunned to see Sarah raising her hand and asking to stay on the other bed.

"N-No you don't have to. Just sleep on the regular bed. I-I'm sure Will wouldn't mind," he stuttered.

"No, I insist. After all, I just want my own bed with my best friend," she said smiling at him. He blushed. That smile could melt a heart of stone, he thought to himself.

"O-Ok," he continued feeling lightheaded," let's get the horses and the pets in the barn." Will and Bailey opened the doors as each person took their own horse. Shep and Teeny followed not too far behind.

The horses were put away and their owners walked back to the house. They started to converse amongst themselves.

"_You know, I'm not entirely sure, but I think our owners like each other, Dotty," Scarlett said._

"_Yeah, no kidding. I can't believe she offered to stay with him. He didn't look too good when she offered," Dotty agreed._

"_We can only hope that this goes well for the both of them," Shep said._

"_I hear ya, Shep. I don't like watching relationships falling apart. It's not pretty," Button said._

"_Well, here's also hoping," Calypso added._

"_Same with us," Chili and Pepper said. _They all fell right asleep, exhausted from that long trip here.

Everyone was inside the living room admiring the house. Chloe, Zoey, Alma, Molly, Alma, Will, and Bailey went up to the guest rooms to unpack. "Wow. This is amazing," Alma said.

"I second that Alma," Chloe said.

"That makes three," her twin said.

"I just hope everything is fine with the two downstairs. Who knows what might happen," Bailey said.

"Don't worry cousin. They will be just fine. Besides not they're going to do anything stupid.

Meanwhile in the living room there was an awkward silence between the two. He had pulled out the beds and was unpacking a few things. Sarah was also unpacking but just some night clothes and toiletries. She was blushing heavily. She didn't know what was going on right now; she was too spaced out to think.

Eventually the group fell asleep. All but Sarah was in a deep sleep. She was up wondering why did she do what she'd done. She had to get out for a little. She threw the covers off of her and stood up. She tiptoed to the door, mindful of some of the squeaking areas. She opened the door slowly and gently closed it. She took one last look at Josh, thinking of how cute he looked when he was asleep(sound familiar?). She shook that thought out of her head and walked out towards the back hill.

She found a good spot where all the stars were visible. She laid down and looked at the sky. His face immediately came to mind. She sighed happily because everything was going off without a hitch. She remembered the first time that she saw him at the ranch.

Flashback

_She was in the tack room finding a spot to put her saddle to wash it. She found one spot next to Molly, but she said," But, uh, that one's not open."_

"_Oh, okay," she apologized. So she took her saddle and put it near Alma." How 'bout this one?" she asked._

"_There was a girl using that last summer and… you know… she might come back," Alma said with a look of regret on her face. _

"_Right. Got it."_

"_I think there ought to be something… down there on the end," Bailey said pointing his thumb behind him._

"_Yeah. I understand," she said looking sadder by the minute. The three walked out the door and slammed it rather hard, causing her to flinch. Tears formed in the back of her eyes and threatened to spill over. Josh walked in with his saddle and placed on the spot Molly was. He didn't notice Sarah until he heard sniffling. He turned around and saw Sarah silently crying into her hands. He walked and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked and immediately the two recognized each other. Sarah wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder._

_He didn't know what to do until each sob got louder and sadder. He wrapped his arms around her, shushing and rocking her. She looked up at him. "What did I do wrong to make everyone hate me?" she said._

"_Nothing. Let's just say… some here are just quick to judge besides Will. They made up their mind about you because you come from a wealthy family and they think that you think of yourself as better than everyone," he said reassuring her._

"_Thanks Josh. You always knew what to say to make me happy again," Sarah said._

"_Glad I could be here to help," he replied._

I was thankful that the others were able to warm up to me and Josh was able to set the record straight. And now I have a huge crush on him and don't know how to tell him, she thought to herself. She let out a sad sigh and laid back down on the grass.

"Lovely night isn't it?" She jolted upright and turned around.


	3. Strike One

Tell me how I'm doing with this story so far.

When Friendships Falter and Crumble

Chapter 3: Let the Games Begin

_Previously…_

_Sarah let out a sad sigh and laid back down on the grass._

"_Lovely night, isn't it?" She jolted upright and turned around. _

She looked back and saw Alma. She scooted over and let her sit down next to her. The two looked up the starry sky.

"What are you doing out here? I'm sorry if I woke you," Sarah apologized.

"No, you didn't wake me. I was thirsty and was getting a glass of water. I saw the bed you were on empty, and I started to worry. But then I looked out the kitchen window and saw you sitting back here all alone," Alma explained.

"Oh, ok. Just as long as I didn't wake you up, then I'd feel bad." The two were silent were quiet for a few minutes.

"So, what _are _you doing out here?" Alma asked breaking the silence. Sarah's mind suddenly went blank. She didn't want to tell anyone about her crush on Josh because she was afraid of everyone laughing at her for it.

"I-I just felt l-like coming out here," she said stumbling over words.

"It's because of Josh, isn't it?"

"N-No. Th-that's not the case at all."

"Chica don't try lying to your friend. I can read you like a book. I knew that you've had a crush on him ever since you two reunited. Every time you're around him you can't help but feel that connection between you two. So don't lie, chica. I know."

Sarah started to blush. Alma giggled watching her act like this. She had to admit that this side of Sarah was one that was interesting because she has never thought of Sarah being that kind of person to be crushing on someone that quickly. She placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm sure that he feels the same way," she said smiling because she knew the secret.

"I hope so. Thank you, Alma."

"De nada, you're welcome." They got back up and walked back to the house and went back to sleep.

The next morning Will was the first one up to feed the horses. Josh followed in close behind, Bailey came up after him, then Sarah, Molly, and Alma and finally the twins Zoey and Chloe. They grabbed the horses and took them to the trailer, hooking each one up one by one. Josh turned around and whistled loudly for Shep and Teeny to get in the trailer. The two came running and jumped inside ready for the ride and upcoming competition. Will and Bailey shut the trailer door and everyone hopped into their cars and pulled out towards the Horse Park 3 miles away.

They finally got there and the girls instantly started cheering making the boys' ears ring.

"All right, all right. Calm down. Oh, hold on second," he said reaching into his pocket for his cell phone. Will had sent him a text saying the number of the barn the horses were staying in. He looked up and right there was the barn. Huh, that was quick, he thought to himself.

He pulled the trailer into the unloading area. Will and Bailey opened the trailer door and unloaded the horses. He pulled around and parked it behind the building. The others joined him around back and started to unpack the tack.

The horses started to chat in their stalls.

"_Wow. So this is the Horse Park they've been talking about," Chili said._

"_I must say this is a really nice place," Calypso said. _

"_Yes, it would appear to be that way," Shep said._

"_Oh goody goody. This is gonna be so much fun," Teeny said._

Will, Sarah and the others came back with the tack and placed it in one of the vacant stalls.

"I'm gonna go turn in our registration forms to the office. Anyone coming?" Josh said. Sarah almost instantly agreed. He and Sarah went out to the judges' office to give them the forms needed to participate.

"Wow. It feels so good to be home. I can't wait for the competition tomorrow," Sarah said with an eager look.

"I honestly can't agree more. Since it _is _tomorrow, we may go on a trail ride later tonight," Josh said.

The two arrived at the registration office and handed the lady working it the forms.

"So you are riding with Horseland Stables?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah replied. Two more kids came in and pushed past the two.

"Yeah, we're here for Stanhope Academy," one said. Her name was Talia Bentley, rider from Stanhope and rival of Alma. The other was a boy named Mark Roberts, who was the biggest rival of Bailey, Will and Josh.

"Aw man. And to think that this was going to be a fun competition. Guess you two ruined it," Josh moaned.

"Ugh. Whatever," Mark grumbled. If there was one thing about Mark that they didn't like, was that he wasn't a man of many words.

"Well, time to go back and inform them that the devil's spawn has just arrived," Josh said. He and Sarah walked out. The two had overheard them talking about a trail ride later tonight; they even heard where it was. The two looked at each other and grinned at each other and nodded heads.

Later that day, the group got their horses saddled up and headed out on a trail that Josh and Sarah were familiar with. Sarah took the lead with the others galloping close behind.

Josh was lenient but only because he had a gut feeling that something wrong was going to happen. Still he galloped towards the front of the pack to keep an eye out. He suddenly saw something in the pathway.

"Sarah! Hold on!" he shouted. Sarah immediately brought Scarlett to a halt. Josh quickly dismounted and tied Dotty to a tree. He removed a small pistol from the holster attached to his belt loop.

Taking the lead, he cautiously walked forward with a piece of wire with a small weight and held it in front of him. He felt the wire tense up. He signaled the others to stay back. He backed up and took aim at the small wire pulled tight across the path and pulled the trigger.

The shot echoed through the woods and the wire snapped. Suddenly a giant tree trunk fell from the hillside and rolled onto the path, cutting the others off from going any further.

"Just as I thought: this place has been rigged with traps. We'll have to go back around and head back to the stables," Josh said.

"But it was only the one trap. How do you know that there maybe more?" Bailey asked.

"Don't you remember, Bailey? Josh and Sarah said that Stanhope was here. They must have rigged this trail to try and injure us to destroy our chances at competing," Alma said.

"She's right. It's not safe. Let's go back," Will said. They hopped on their horses and headed back down to the stables.

Meanwhile, Mark and Talia were standing on the hillside overlooking the trail.

"Drat. It failed," Mark said.

"Indeed. That was strike one. We'll have to try harder," she said smirking and walking off.


End file.
